Washington Nationals Connected to Pete Alonso After Juan Soto Deal

The Washington Nationals have officially missed out on the Juan Soto sweepstakes. He made his final decision to join the New York Mets on a massive 15-year, $765 million contract.

Even though the Nationals were never expected to land Soto, a reunion with the superstar outfielder would have been amazing.

Now, they will need to figure out how to make the moves necessary to get back on track and become a playoff contender once again.

With the Mets spending so much on Soto, there is a chance that they could let another star walk in free agency.

Of course, that star is slugging first baseman Pete Alonso. Washington just so happens to have been linked to Alonso multiple times throughout the MLB offseason.

Now, the Nationals are being linked to Alonso once again.

Jim Bowden of The Athletic has named Washington as one of the top contenders to sign Alonso this offseason. He also listed the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners as potential destinations.

Most predictions have had New York re-signing Alonso. However, they likely won't have the money to bring Alonso back on the kind of deal he wants after signing Soto. That opens the door for the other interested teams to swoop in and get him.

Alonso turned 30 years old on December 7. He is coming off of a season that saw him post the lowest slugging numbers of his career.

While there are reasons for concern about that dip in power, Alonso should still have some great years ahead of him. It's more likely that he simply had an off year with the potential for a big bounce-back season in 2025.

Speaking of the 2024 season with the Mets, Alonso ended up playing in 162 games. He hit 34 home runs to go along with 88 RBI, while slashing .240/.329/.459.

Bringing in the kind of pop that Alonso adds to a lineup would be huge for the Nationals. They have badly needed more power in their lineup over the last couple of years.

Making the aggressive move to sign Alonso would be a big step in the right direction for Washington. He may not be a one-move fix for the lineup, but he would be a huge start.

All of that being said, the Nationals want to make a big move or two. There are a lot of talented players still available in free agency and Washington should start making aggressive moves to try and land a couple of them.